Here’s a very useful email I recently received from Alessandra Torre with Inkers Con (

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I thought this was really useful for authors, so I am reproducing it here.

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Let me start out by saying that I love Goodreads. Love, love, love it with a capital L. After all, a place where 150 million readers converge to discuss books? Sign me up all day long and twice on Sunday.

However, a lot of authors avoid the platform or don’t know how to properly use it to promote their novels.

I get it.

Using Goodreads as an author can be confusing.

To help you avoid any missteps on Goodreads, here are some things to avoid when you use Goodreads as an author:

• Don’t worry about getting a 3-star rating on your book. Goodreads reviewers are seasoned readers, and while they can be more critical than your average bookworm, ANY review is a chance for great exposure and interaction. A 3-star review in the Goodreads universe is defined by the site as “the book was good.” So keep your chin up! Three stars isn’t a negative rating. And on the plus side – because Goodreads reviews get great visibility, that makes the 4 and 5-star reviews even more valuable.

• Don’t interact with negativity. Like any social media site – there is drama and negativity IF you seek it out, but it’s easy to avoid. Any interaction with negativity can escalate quickly – and will only bring more negative attention.

• Don’t comment on or like any negative reviews of your own book. If you comment or interact with a negative review, it will share it be shared in your followers’ feeds. Eeek! We don’t want to do that. Instead, like/comment on positive reviews of your book so that the site will push those reviews into your followers’ timelines.

• Don’t rate your own book. Authors can review their own book. The review section is a great place to share extras about your book like purchase links, teasers or excerpts. But it’s bad form to give your own book five stars (or any stars).

• Don’t negatively review other books. It’s considered poor form to ‘trash talk’ your competition. It’s great for you to be an active member of the site and post what you’re reading and review the books you love. But if you read a book that doesn’t fit your fancy, just mark it as ‘read’ and move on. Even constructive criticism or a nicely worded four-star review can reflect poorly on your standing in the community.

• Don’t do a giveaway post–release. Goodreads Giveaways can be powerful when used correctly (pre-release) but don’t have a strong return on investment if used after your book is released.

If you’re not using Goodreads as an author… I highly encourage you to start. Goodreads has over 150M readers and some fantastic free resources and opportunities for you to promote your books.

Here are some Goodreads Author Resources.

Best,

Alessandra (AR) Torre
New York Times Bestselling Author (and Goodreads fanatic!)

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All copyright belongs to the author, Alessandra Torre. All rights respected.